Jane Bolin was a trailblazing attorney who became the first African American female judge in the United States, serving on New York’s Family Court for four decades.
Jane Matilda Bolin was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, on April 11, 1908, to an interracial couple, Matilda Ingram Emery and Gaius C. Bolin. Her father was an attorney who headed the Dutchess County Bar Association and cared for the family after his wife’s illness and death, which occurred when Bolin was a child.
Bolin was a superb student who graduated from high school in her mid-teens and went on to enroll at Wellesley College.
Jane Bolin graduated from Yale Law School and, after relocating to New York City, became sworn in by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia as the first African American female judge in the U.S. She served on the Family Court bench for four decades, advocating for children and families via outside institutions as well.